Related Experiment Videos
Adherence to HIV treatment: results from a 1-year follow-up study
M Martini1, S D'Elia, F Paoletti
1Italian League for the Fight Against AIDS (LILA), National Research Center, Milan, Italy.
Insights
HIV treatment adherence varies significantly over time. Many patients struggle to maintain consistent adherence to combination therapies, including protease inhibitors, highlighting the need for ongoing support.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
Background:
- Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is crucial for managing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection.
- Adherence to complex HIV treatment regimens is a known challenge impacting treatment efficacy.
- Protease inhibitors are key components in many contemporary HIV treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the longitudinal adherence patterns of HIV-infected individuals on combination therapy.
- To quantify the variability in treatment adherence over a one-year period.
- To identify the proportion of patients with consistent high, consistent low, or fluctuating adherence.
Main Methods:
- Prospective evaluation of adherence in 63 HIV-infected subjects over one year.
- Adherence assessed every four months using patient self-reporting.
- Focus on combination therapies including at least one protease inhibitor.
Main Results:
- A significant portion of patients (36.5%) exhibited variable adherence levels across the three evaluations.
- Only 28.6% (18/63) reported consistently high adherence.
- A smaller group (12.7%, 8/63) demonstrated consistently low adherence throughout the study period.
Conclusions:
- Adherence to HIV treatment is not static and can change considerably for individual patients over time.
- The observed variability underscores the dynamic nature of patient engagement with HIV therapy.
- Interventions may be needed to support sustained adherence throughout the course of HIV management.
Abstract:
We evaluated adherence to HIV treatments every 4 months during one year in 63 HIV-infected subjects using combination therapies including a protease inhibitor. A total of 18 subjects reported a high level of adherence, 14 in two evaluations, and eight a low level of adherence in all the three evaluations. The remaining 23 subjects (36.5%) reported different levels of adherence to treatment in the three evaluations. These findings suggest that the level of adherence to treatment changes markedly for each patient over time.